Dulce de Leche Brownies

I love when I'm blinded by powdered sugar.  Okay these brownies are from Pioneer Woman's recipe and they are to die for!  A big reason is for this ingredient below:

Dule de Leche caramel.  Buy it.  Use it.  Eat it.  Yes.

I N G R E D I E N T S

 --2 sticks butter

--5 oz. unsweetened chocolate

--1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

--2 cups granulated sugar

--1 tbsp. vanilla

--3 large eggs

--1 1/4 cups flour

--14 oz. can Nestle Dulce de Leche

--(powdered sugar, for sprinkling)

--Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a saucepan, over medium het, melt the butter and 5 oz. of chocolate until melted.

--So that it looks like this!

--Pour into a bowl to allow the chocolate to cool a bit.

 --Next, pour in the sugar.

 --Whisk until the sugar is all incorporated.

 --Pour in a tablespoon of vanilla (to see which kind I use, see my mom's chocolate chip recipe).

 --Whisk in 3 eggs, and make sure to mix until the eggs are completely broken and incorporated.

 --Lastly, put in the flour and mix to combine.

 --Warning--the batter will be thick! That's good!

 --Spray an 8x8 pan with Pam and pour the batter in, making sure to spread it out evenly.  (if you have another pan size, that's fine too!  8x8 is smaller and will tend to make the brownies thicker)

 --Now, open that delicious can of caramel-ness and pop it in the microwave for 20 seconds, stir, then back in for another 20 seconds and stir it around.

 --Go ahead and make some beautiful piles of dulce de leche of top of the brownies.

 --Take a knife and gently swirl it through the batter.  Make sure to hold the knife thin so the sharp side leads the way.

 --Beautiful!  The caramel will bubble up a bit, so it doesn't need to make a design, but I was a little proud of this...anyway, bake in the oven for 40-43 minutes, or stick a toothpick in and if it's overly gooey, keep it in a little longer.  Just make sure the edges don't burn!

 --Notice the caramel has bubbled up a bit.  That's fine! Make sure to let these cool completely before slicing them up and serving them.

 --I have found brownies usually taste the best and have the best consistency the next day after baking!  (next day above)

 --Top with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and put this in your mouth!

Homemade Oreos

This blogpost calls for a shout out to Mike Parkin for requesting this recipe to be made.  That guy does too much for my husband and me and so we repay him with cookie requests.  This recipe really does not call for too many ingredients, so there's no excuse to NOT make them.

I N G R E D I E N T S

--1 package of Betty Crocker's Super Moist cake mix (you only need the mix)

--1/2 cup Crisco shortening

--2 large eggs

 --For the frosting--

--8 oz. cream cheese

--1/2 stick butter

--2 tsp. vanilla

--2-4 cups powdered sugar

 D I R E C T I O N S

--Put the first three ingredients into the bowl of an electric mixer.  The shortening...

--The cake mix, and the two eggs.

--Look at that consistency!

--On a cookie sheet, take small scoops, like "melon-scooper" size (the smallest dang ice cream scooper you can find) and roll dough into balls and spread out on the sheet.

--Like-ah so.  Put these in the oven at 350 degrees for 8 minutes, then set aside to cool.

 --Let's make frosting!  Throw in the softened butter,

--And cream cheese, and whip together until combined.  Then add in a couple cups of sugar.

--Add in vanilla, stir to combine, and then add a couple more cups of sugar.

--Mix until beautifully incorporated,

--This looks good.  Like really good.

--8 minutes later....YUM!

--Frost some frosting on the back of one of the cookies and put the cookies together to form a sandwich.

then EAT!

Biscoff Blogpost

I feel like i have a "biscoff day" every week.  I don't know what it is with this stuff, but the crunchiness of the spread and the mini cookie bites in it make me crave it daily.  This weekend, it was all I wanted to eat, so I decided to incorporate it into a couple well-known treats.  They both turned out soooo good.  I make the no-bake biscoff cookies version so often because it's my husband's very favorite.  And it takes about seven minutes to throw together...Read at your own risk.

Biscoff No-Bake Cookies

I N G R E D I E N T S

--1 cup granulated sugar

--1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

--1/4 tsp. salt

--1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

--1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced into pieces

--1/2 cup 1% or 2% milk

--1 tsp. vanilla

--3 cups quick oats

--Oh, and 1/2 cup *crunchy* Biscoff cookie spread (duh)

--In a saucepan, combine the two sugars,

--...and the salt, cinnamon, butter and milk and stir over slightly over medium high heat, whisking until the butter has melted.

--Once it has melted, allow it come to a boil for 45 seconds...

--And then quickly pour in the vanilla,

--And then finally the Biscoff!

--Whisk until it all comes together.

--Prepare two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

--Meanwhile, stir in the oats until it's this consistency.

--Using an ice cream scooper, and any size you want, drop the "cookies" onto the parchment paper.

--On a few I added some white chocolate chips to the top, because it was Saturday.

--[These taste best when they have been able to set in the refrigerator.] 

Biscoff Snickerdoodle Cookies

I N G R E D I E N T S

--1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

--1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

--1 tsp. vanilla

--1/2 cup Biscoff spread

--2 large eggs

--2 3/4 cup flour

--1 tsp. cream of tartar

--1/2 tsp. baking soda

--for the topping--

--2 tbsp. sugar

--2 tsp. cinnamon 

 

--Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugars, butter, vanilla, eggs, and Biscoff spread and mix until very well blended.

--Exhibit A.

--Add in the dry ingredients (flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt) and combine thoroughly until the dough comes together.

--In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon and sugar and roll the 1-inch dough balls (using a cookie scooper) into the mixture.  

--Place cookies 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are set.

Love, Biscoff